These Valuable Discoveries Were Found In Totally Unexpected Areas

Everyone has probably made at least one unexpected discovery before. You might have found $20 in your coat pocket from last season or stumbled into a family heirloom while cleaning in the basement. Just like those findings, these discoveries came completely by surprise. They range from valuable to strange and encompass everything in between.

Most of the discoveries happened from pure luck, but others were found because of determination and hard work. Likewise, they may have been presented in movies or Netflix documentaries. Regardless, this list should inspire you to watch for new things and indulge your curiosity whenever possible.

1. The Underground Pyramid in Bolivia

Tiahuanaco is in Bolivia, and the historical ruins have been part of many discoveries. In fact, excavations continue from the government and private companies. One shocking find was the underground pyramid in 2015. Archaeologists used ground-penetrating radar to locate it.

2. Witch Bottle in an English Chimney

Contractors were demolishing a pub in Watford, England, and stumbled upon a strange discovery. It was a witch bottle, which was full of creepy and unidentified liquid, shards of glass, and teeth. They think it was from the 1800s!

3. Giant Lego Men from Beaches Worldwide

What would you do if you found an 8-foot Lego man? It had a saying on its shirt reading “no real than you are” and was discovered by a surfer in Japan. Ego Leonard is the man behind this statue, but he comes from a “virtual world.”

4. Largest Flower in the Jungle

Conservationists found a remote jungle in Indonesia, the West Sumatra area, with the largest flower in the world. It’s called the Rafflesia tuan-mudae, and it’s known for elusive blossoms that only appear a week toward the end of the lifespan.

5. Shark in a Golf Course

When Sharknado came out in 2013, everyone mocked it, but Thunder Levin did get the last laugh because his movies might not be as fictional as we believe. One shark fell from the sky and landed close to the 12th tee on a California golf course!

6. Underwater River in the Ocean

Is it an oxymoron to find a river in the ocean? Divers found an underwater river hidden in the Yucatan Peninsula under a cloud of toxic gas. It was formed from the Cenote Angelita, which is a massive sinkhole, and is roughly 90 feet beneath its surface.

7. Long Lost Ship in Namibian Desert

When you think of finding a ship, you rarely focus on the Namibian Desert. Believe it or not, the Bom Jesus was found there. The Portuguese ship was lost 500 years ago after sinking off the Namibia coast, but it reemerged as the waters receded.

8. Underground Theater in Paris Catacombs

There’s a labyrinth found in the heart of France called the Paris Catacombs. They were built because the city required a place to store their dead. Tunnels were the primary choice, and they were dug five stories under the city. In 2004, the police department found a fully-equipped movie theater!

9. Ancient Chapel Under a Family House

Pat and Diane Farla enjoyed a Good Friday party in their Shropshire, England, home. One person looked behind a 6-foot rectangular plate on the wall, which they’d never touched after moving in. They found a small, underground chapel behind it!

10. 1000-year-old Viking Ship on a Farm

Archaeologists used ground-penetrating radar to find something strange on a farm in Norway. Below the frigid earth’s surface, there was a ship dating back to the Viking or Merovingian period. It was only 2 feet underground!

11. 50-year-old Safe in a Kitchen Wall

A couple renovated their Phoenix, Arizona, kitchen and discovered a safe behind the wall. Once they opened it, they found liquor, $50,000, and the directions for a treasure hunt! There was even a book published in 1977!

12. Qing Dynasty Vase in Paris Attic

French homeowners were going through the attic and found a beautiful porcelain vase. It had been there for years, and the couple went to Sotheby’s to get it appraised. It turned out that it was original and from the Qing Dynasty, so it was worth up to $825,000!

13. $15 Million Painting in a Wall

Two brothers went through their dad’s home after he passed and found something in the walls. The original Norman Rockwell painting matched the one that was a few inches away. Their father hid the expensive one to avoid losing it in a divorce!

14. Mark Twain Script in a Trunk

The original Mark Train script had been lost for about a century before it was located in an attic trunk in 1991. It’s a 665-page document written by the famous author and varied significantly from Huckleberry Finn most people read.

15. Terracotta Warriors in a Pit

Chinese workers in 1974 built a well and found thousands of terracotta figures dressed for battle. It’s called the Terracotta Army and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In fact, it was found near the Qin Shi Huang mausoleum!

16. Deep-sea Alien Hunt by Swedish Scientists

Swedish scientists conducted an expedition to find a deep-sea alien, and they did find something resembling a spaceship in the Baltic Sea. No one knows what it is, but most believe it’s a natural geological formation.

17. WWII Plane in Jungle

Dubbed the Swamp Ghost, the Boeing B-17E bomber was a crusader in WWII. However, it went down in 1942 within the Papua New Guinea jungles. Someone discovered it in 1972, and it still had coffee in the thermoses.

18. The Antikythera Mechanism

The Antikythera Mechanism is a 2000-year-old astronomical calculator that features 30 hand-cut bronze gears. It was an advanced tool for the ancient Greeks, and scientists took years to unravel its mystery.

19. Mummy in a Statue

The Buddha statue was quite valuable itself because it was 1000 years old. However, it hid something shocking. Historians in 1990 ran tests on the idol to restore it to its former glory. However, they noticed a human skeleton, making it a sarcophagus.

20. Abandoned Burger King

The Concord Mall is the oldest in Delaware, and it’s seen many attractions, shops, and restaurants. In the 1980s, it opened a Burger King, which was never torn down after it stopped being used in 2009. Therefore, it was uncovered in 2022!

21. Hidden Studio Under a Bridge

Most children build secret forts in the backyard, and Fernando Abellanas decided to construct a small studio apartment under a Valencia, Spain, bridge. The self-taught designer used ingenious engineering to bring about a bed, desk, and chair.

22. Metal Monoliths in 2020

Everyone agrees that 2020 was a strange year, and a news story popped up that sparked alien conspiracy theories. In New Mexico, Romania, California, and Utah, identical monoliths appeared. The vertical, long slabs were 10 to 12 feet long with no explanation.

23. Third-century Home Under Rome

In 2017, excavators dug underneath Rome to create a metro line. Since it’s an old city, they found many interesting things. One was the ruins of a fancy home built in the third century that was destroyed by fire.

24. 1961 Fallout Shelter in a Backyard

The 1960s was a difficult time for the world. Russia and America were at odds, and nuclear war seemed like a possibility. Therefore, people built fallout shelters, and one California couple discovered one in 2013.

25. 4,500-year-old Statue

While working his land, a farmer in the Gaza Strip found a limestone sculpture of an ancient Canaan goddess named Anat. It was 4,500 years old, and the farmer said that he knew it was important immediately because of the snake inscription on the head.

26. Roman Coins in Japanese Castle

Katsuren Castle is found in Okinawa, Japan, and the old imperial building held Roman and Ottoman coins that were ancient. Overall, 10 were located in the southern prefecture, and Toshio Tsukamoto found them.

27. $100,000 Floating in the River

Dog owners seem to always be walking their furry friends, but one man’s walk got him an unexpected treasure. He was walking beside the UK’s Spalding River in 2013 and spotted money floating around in the water, which totaled $100,000!

28. Underwater Skeleton Tea Party

Someone called the police about human remains possibly being in the Colorado River, so the Buckskin Fire Department and La Paz County Sheriff in Arizona investigated. Divers went down with a camera and found two skeletons enjoying a tea party! They were fake, though!

29. Atari ET Video Games in a New Mexico Landfill

This story has many twists. Atari is a video game maker that created the ET video game in 1983. It was a flop, so it secretly buried the stock in a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico. An exploratory dig revealed that there had been a dump!

30. Dead Sea Scrolls

Israel is often home to historical and religious finds, but no one expected this. During a huge survey of the Judean Desert, there were new fragments found from the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Israeli Antiquities Authority located them!

31. WWI Love Letters

World War I was a traumatic time worldwide, as the death toll and intense use of weaponry made most people feel that Earth was ending. One man found WWI love letters in his attic wall from 1918. They were written to Mary from Clement.

32. Secret Hidden Room in a Couple’s Home

Finding a hidden room isn’t a good thing, and most people would be wary. One couple was horrified to learn that there was a secret room in their Logan, Utah, home. Only a bookcase hid the special entrance. There was only one folding chair inside.

33. Largest Diamond in Arkansas

Diamond mining is more popular in African countries, but there have been unique finds in America. A miner in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, was digging early in 1924 and found the largest-ever diamond. It’s 40.23 carats and was named “Uncle Sam.”

34. Bag with $1 Million in the Road

Picking up trash by the roadside is rarely a hobby, but it paid off royally for one family. While traveling to Virginia, they saw white sacks on the road. Thinking they were garbage, they threw them into the back of the car, only to realize that there was $1 million!

35. Sprawling Tunnel System with Bats

A homeowner found a Bat Cave in their Southern Italy home and told his story on Reddit. He bought the six-bedroom, two-bath house in 2020, knowing about some storage tunnels. However, he explored them and saw tons of bats!

36. Attic of Valuable Antiques

David Whitcomb purchased a Geneva, New York, building in 2020 to use as his law office. However, he and his friend explored it and found historical and valuable antique treasures. That attic wasn’t on the blueprints!

37. Earthen Rings in the Amazon

The Amazon is the largest jungle worldwide and has over 4,700 animal species. Many discoveries haven’t been explained by scientists yet, and the earthen rings are part of that. They are only seen by aerial view, and no one knows where they came from.

38. City of Giants in Ethiopia

Archaeologists were excavating in Harlaa, Ethiopia, and found an ancient city. This shed light on trades between East Africa and Asia. The researchers were more interested in the site because they had heard of the local legend.

39. Giant Water Reservoir on Mars

The Zhurong, a Chinese space probe, landed on Utopia Planitia, which is part of the northern hemisphere in Mars, in 2021. Data returned showed that there could be life on another planet because it indicated water.

40. Declaration of Independence in a Thrift Store

You can find tons of treasures in thrift stores, and one collector in Pennsylvania bought an old painting for $4 simply because he liked the frame. However, he soon learned that he held a copy of the original Declaration of Independence, which was authenticated!